Accessories or treatments for handles which enhance a user's ability to engage them are well known in the art. Generally, a handle “grip” is a device or apparatus that improves the handle user's “grip” onto the handle, that improvement being increased hand purchase and pressure on the handle. Considering most handles, for hand tools or other devices, are substantially cylindrical and made of non-deforming materials (e.g., wood, metal) which do not by default conform to the complex contour of the interior of person's closed hand, users often desire some implement placed onto the handle so that the tool or device is used effectively. Moreover, where a tool is heavy or otherwise requires significant force to operate, or where a tool is typically utilized in dirty or other environments where the friction between the user's hand(s) and the handle is often compromised, a handle grip may be essential for the tool's safe operation. In dirty or contaminated environments, there is a particular need for handle grips to (i) give the tool user's hand(s) maximum purchase on the handle and (ii) resist destruction from the user's use of the tool handle in those environments.
Certain examples in the prior art help illustrate common limitations and weaknesses. U.S. Pat. No. 1,017,565 discloses a Grip or Handle. This reference describes a grip comprised of a flattened rubber tube that is spirally wound around a shaft. The rubber tube flattens as it is kept in spirally-wrapped tension around the shift and forms radially-symmetrical grooves between successive wraps. Not only is the disclosed grip not designed to conform to the asymmetry of a human hand's purchase on a shaft, but it is not designed to resist any significant force or to be utilized in any excessively dirty or contaminated environment.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,267,487 discloses a Vibration Handle Grip and Process for Making Same. This reference discloses a grip comprising a vibration damping polyurethane elastomer surrounding a handle. The vibration damping elastomer is overlaid with a tack-free elastomer coating-impregnated tubular sleeve. The reference does not disclose any feature(s) improving hand purchase on a provided handle; rather, the elastomeric firmaments and coatings are designed to attenuate vibration generated from the tool as experienced by the user's hand(s). The reference in fact acknowledges that vibration damping function exhibited does not lend itself to supporting heavy use, as the materials necessary for vibration damping are generally less durable.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,343,776 discloses a Handle Grip Cover and Process for Making Same. The grip disclosed is formed by placing a tubular material over a non-stick (shaft) surface, impregnating the tubular material with an elastomer, curing the material, and then removing the cured grip from the non-stick surface to be re-applied to a desire handle after being trimmed to a desired length. The reference does not disclose any sub-structure which might conform to hand anthropometrics, and the reference does not disclose any treatment of the grip which might render it durable beyond the physical characteristics of the tubular material.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,511,445 discloses a Flexible Hand Grip for Handles. The grip disclosed comprises a foam layer sandwiched between a rubber layer and fabric layer, the laminated combination being wrapped around a handle and securing against itself with hook-and-loop edges. The reference does not disclose any structure within the layers which might help a user's hand gain purchase on the grip, and this the enshrouded handle, not does it disclose any hardening process or feature which is wear-resistant.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,797,813 discloses a Handle Grip. The grip disclosed is a strip of polyurethane bonded to a strip of felt, the strips having edges that, when the grip is spirally wound around a handle, form a water-retarding joint to protect the adhesive which binds the grip to the handle (e.g., golf club). The polyurethane layer and felt layer have closed and open pores, respectively, which enable the grip to slightly deform to hand pressure. However, the reference does not disclose any substructure against which a user's hand may create additional purchase nor does the reference disclose any hardening or wear-resistant feature, the intended use for the grip being for golf clubs and tennis racquets.
U.S. Pat. No. D426,450 discloses a Handle Grip. The grip appears to be, essentially, two series of ridges on either side of an Allen wrench-type multi tool. While the ridges do appear to allow for a user's fingers to more-securely grip what might otherwise be flat surfaces on the sides of the tool, no hardening or wear-resistance is disclosed. Moreover, the ridges do not appear to be oriented in such a way as to maximize the purchase of a human's fingers around the tool given the typical size of hex wrench key.
A review of the prior art reveals that existing handle grip technology is not designed in any fashion comprehensive of hand purchase and durability considerations. Indeed, the cited references remark on how, generally, grip durability treatments are difficult to apply and expensive. While no handle grip will be indestructible under all conditions, an object to any such article is to be as durable as possible while maximizing grip performance.
Generally, the present invention's innovations, as the Detailed Description will elaborate, address the shortcomings of the prior art without sacrificing the configuration requirements necessary to ensure the invention's near-universal handle compatibility.